


i've lied for you, and i liked it too, but my knees are bruised, from kneeling to you

by endofdaysforme



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, more tags to be added probs, soooo this came out of nowhere heh I hope you like it, spy AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24033193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endofdaysforme/pseuds/endofdaysforme
Summary: “jesus! jason, what the hell is going on?!” cheryl screams, looking at her brother with nothing but panic as he speeds out of the parking as fast as his car can take them.“listen to me, cheryl! what i’m about to tell you is insane and will change your life forever, but i need you to understand what i’m saying and realize it’s the truth!”--cheryl blossom thought she had her whole life sorted: a beautiful fiancée, a stable job at a banking company...or so that's what everyone thinks.but when cheryl reveals the true nature of her job to her fiancée, who is killed less than twenty four hours after learning the truth, cheryl quickly unravels a web of lies with her father front and center: her job and her entire life is a lie. and he's responsible for her death.now cheryl's determined to bring him down, and with toni topaz assigned to her case and her brother by her side, nothing is going to stop her from bringing him down...just as long as she stays focused.something that's a little hard to do with a certain someone around.--aka, a spy/alias au.-on temporary hiatus.
Relationships: Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz
Comments: 14
Kudos: 107





	i've lied for you, and i liked it too, but my knees are bruised, from kneeling to you

**Author's Note:**

> HALLO DARLINGS.
> 
> hope you're all keeping well during this pandemic. stay safe, stay clean and wash ya hands!
> 
> here's this little diddy I'll be working on along with the grey's au, don't ask me how it happened it just kind of it, I hope you guys enjoy it and let me know what you think!
> 
> twitter: @endofdaysforme

“miss blossom, this is the third paper you’ve submitted late!”

professor honey looks less than pleased as he looks up at the young woman before him through his glasses, his thin lips curved downwards into a frown that’s perhaps permanent on his face as cheryl blossom sighs and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear guiltily.

“yes, i know, professor honey, but, as i’ve told you, my job at the bank is demanding and-.”

“is a job! nothing more, nothing less!” professor honey says sternly, throwing her assignment onto his desk and taking his glasses off before he’s rubbing the lenses with the bottom of his dress shirt.

“it’s…it’s not just a job for me, professor honey. it’s what keeps food on the table and a roof above my head-.”

“yes, well, i think you need to sort out your priorities here, miss blossom. is your job really worth risking your education and your place in this program? you want to become a lawyer, don’t you?” professor honey looks at her as if he’s her father, raised eyebrow and stern voice that cheryl supposes is meant to stir some kind of anguish or guilt inside her, but it just causes her to frown as she purses her lips and nods.

“yes, professor honey-.”

“then your job shouldn’t come first. please, miss blossom, you act as if your job at the bank involves saving the world!” he says with a scoff.

he misses the wry smile she gives him in return.

“no more late papers…or you’ll be out of this program, miss blossom.” professor honey says with a sigh, and before cheryl can say anything more in her defense, he turns his chair and gazes out of the window of his office, clearly dismissing her.

cheryl curls her hand into a fist and contains her anger, her shoulder deflating as she grits her teeth and simply nods.

“yes, sir. thank you…” she murmurs. she stands from her seat and makes her way out of his office, a heavy sigh escaping her as all the anger leaves her body the second she steps outside.

maybe her father is right, maybe she should just give up this degree completely, but it’s hard for her to let it go. it’s the one thing in her life she doesn’t have to lie about, the one thing in her life that isn’t fake…

“hey! hey, cheryl!”

she spins around at the sound of her girlfriend’s voice, a smile instantly lighting up her face as heather hathaway makes her way towards cheryl with a wide grin, her pace picking up the closer she gets. cheryl runs her fingers through her red tresses with a heavy sigh and accepts the quick peck heather presses to her lips as her girlfriend observes her with a frown.

“what’s wrong, darling?” she asks, that thick british accent cheryl loves so much piercing through her worried voice as cheryl shakes her head with a sad smile.

“it’s nothing, i…professor honey gave me a lecture about turning in my assignment a day late.” cheryl mumbles, the both of them making their way through the campus grounds and eventually through the courtyard as heather sighs and adjusts her bag on her shoulder.

“oh, forget him, he’s an ass. you’ve told him time and time again that your job is high maintenance, although perhaps this is a sign that you should consider quitting, my love.” heather says softly, the arm draped around her shoulders rubbing her bicep comfortingly as cheryl simply purses her lips and shrugs.

“maybe…i love my job, though, heather…i can’t just leave.” cheryl whispers, blinking back tears at the thought. heather’s frown deepens.

“don’t get upset, sweetheart. what did your father say? he is your boss after all.” she asks, prompting cheryl to roll her eyes at the very thought of her father.

“he told me i should quit studying, come work with him properly.” cheryl sighs, and heather actually scoffs before she jumps in front of cheryl to stop her in her tracks.

“of course he did…look, i may have never met the man before, but from everything you’ve told me, he seems too business oriented. do what _your_ heart tells you to do, cheryl.” she tells her softly, tucking a finger under her chin with a warm smile that has cheryl’s heart melting as she leans into heather’s touch to press a gentle, loving kiss to her lips.

“i know…” she whispers against them. heather smiles and kisses her once more before she suddenly steps back, her eyes wide and almost filled with nerves.

“speaking of…doing what the heart says…” she croaks out, stepping back once more as cheryl stares at her in confusion.

confusion that doesn’t last long when heather sinks down onto one knee and reaches into the back pocket of her jeans.

cheryl feels like she might collapse.

“oh my god…heather, i-.”

“we’ve known each other for two years, cheryl blossom. and we met right here, on this campus, and since then, those two years have truly been the best of my life. you are the light in my heart, and the goddamn air that gives me breath. i can’t put into words how much i love you, so perhaps instead…i’ll promise you this. that i will be by your side through thick and thin, through war and anguish…that i will love you until the day my heart stops beating. all i ask in return is that you continue lighting up every room you enter with that smile that makes my heart beat oh so wildly.” heather’s words are disjointed from her emotion, tears running down her face while cheryl looks down at her with a mixture of complete panic and utter adoration.

she’s proposing…heather’s actually proposing to her, oh god-

“cheryl marjorie blossom…will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” heather whispers. cheryl swallows the lump in her throat, looks around at the people on her campus that are now staring at her expectantly, and…

she drops down to her knees in front of heather and looks down at the diamond ring that’s in the box held in her trembling hands, and…

“yes. of course i’ll marry you.” cheryl manages to get out.

god, the smile that appears on heather’s face makes cheryl’s heart skip a few beats, and cheryl’s quite sure she’s never been more in love as heather places the ring onto the second last finger of her left hand and kisses her deeply amidst a roar of cheers from the people around them. cheryl laughs giddily, unable to contain her excitement before the reality begins to crash down on her as heather holds her tight in a hug.

heather just proposed to her.

heather just fucking proposed to her, and cheryl has done nothing but lie to her for two years straight.

_oh god, cheryl, what have you done?_

—

cheryl can’t help the smile that lifts her lips as she passes the all too familiar _‘paragon financial corp.’_ sign, heels clicking on the concrete floor as she enters the building and offers a smile and a ‘good morning’ to the man that passes her. the ring on her left finger feels like a weight, her heart racing and thrumming against her ribcage erratically at the thought of entering this building with it on.

her two best friends had reacted with cheers of excitement and tears when she told them of her engagement yesterday night, for betty cooper, her cousin and veronica lodge, her best friend since high school, were excited for her, loved her enough to know that her marrying heather hathaway is all she could ever dream of.

at least, that’s what the cheryl blossom she presents to them has dreamed of.

the cheryl blossom she is here, in this building, the _real_ cheryl blossom…she can’t walk into this building with this ring on. this cheryl blossom feels nothing but fear at the idea of anyone in this building seeing it. there is no showing off her ring and letting out excited squeals at the prospect of bouquets and venues and dresses like she did last night with them.

no…this cheryl blossom instead enters the elevator, greets dilton doiley with a nod and a smile and a ‘beautiful morning, isn’t it?’ and watches as he enters his keycard into the elevator and presses the button that doesn’t lead anywhere: a button that doesn’t sink in. instead, it scans his fingerprint and beeps before the elevator doors close and they begin their descent while cheryl places her hands behind her back and sneakily slips off her ring, placing it into her pocket once it’s off.

“heard your father’s pleased with your success in geneva last week. nice work, blossom.” dilton says somewhat sourly, perhaps still thinking of the mission he failed three months ago that led him to this demotion of elevator service as cheryl grimaces and simply nods once at him.

“just doing my job.”

“yeah, so am i.” he grumbles, but still offers her a sad smile as the doors open to reveal an all white room before them.

“take care of yourself, dilton.” cheryl says simply as she steps off into the white room, and dilton sighs as the elevator doors close behind her. cheryl stands stock still in the middle of the room, sees the walls turn red and the buzzing of infrared before her photo is snapped-

and the doors opposite the elevator ones open.

she makes her way inside, heads straight for her desk and drops her bag down on it as archie andrews looks up at her with a massive, dorky grin and a nod.

“your father walked in with quite the strut and grin on his face today, i think it’s fair to say he’s happy with our work in geneva.”

“so i’ve been told. dilton looked a little salty about it as i walked in.”

“ah, he’ll get over it, elevator service isn’t too bad.” archie says with a shrug. cheryl laughs under her breath.

“yeah, you only worked it for a week, he’s been there for three months.”

“sucks to suck. your dad wants to brief us on our next mission in ten by the way.” archie tells her, nodding towards the office behind her. cheryl turns and sees her father, clifford blossom, in all his glory, talking with none other than his other pride and joy, her brother, jason blossom. he looks up and makes eye contact with cheryl, and the smile on his face widens as he suddenly waves her towards him. cheryl turns to archie with a raised eyebrow, who chuckles and nods her off as cheryl abandons her desk and makes her way towards her father’s office.

“cheryl! i hope you enjoyed your last few days off, you earned them after your amazing work in geneva.” he says proudly, making cheryl’s heart burst with happiness at the sight of it as she tries her best to remain professional and hide a smile.

“thanks, daddy. is ivanov in c.i.a custody?”

“yes, he is, and the artifact you recovered from his office is in a secure location. he’ll be transferred to a remote prison under constant government watch, in other words…he won’t see the light of day ever again. good work, cheryl. you’ve brought us one step closer to bringing down the alliance altogether.” he says firmly.

“do the crime, do the time. nice job, sis.” jason says with a grin, giving her wrist a squeeze that cheryl quickly gives him back.

this…this is the _real_ cheryl blossom. to her best friends, to her now fiancé, to her professors…to everyone not in the underground floor of this building right now, cheryl blossom is a grad student working on becoming a lawyer and is an employee of _paragon financial corp.,_ a banking company.

that cheryl blossom is a lie.

the cheryl blossom that comes into this building, the _real_ cheryl blossom…works undercover as a spy for the central intelligence agency of the united states of america. this cheryl blossom serves her country and serves her country proudly, works her ass off and often gets it beaten down as she’s sent all over the world to stop black market trade deals between those who want to see the world burn, those who want to attack the country and the world she serves…criminals, mafiosos, billionaires who want just a little more…

to her best friends, she is a girl who bakes and paints and loves romantic comedies. this cheryl blossom, the one who can dismantle a standard glock pistol and reassemble it in under thirty seconds, the one who knows how to kill a man in about two hundred and seventeen different ways, the one who has already saved the world a dozen times over…this cheryl blossom is the one that’s true.

she loves her job.

and she also loves her fiancée…

_shit, heather…_

“daddy, jason, there’s…there’s actually something i have to tell you.”

cheryl thinks back to the day she had been recruited to work for the c.i.a…cheryl hadn’t even been aware that her father worked for the government, hadn’t even been aware of all the amazing things her father has done undercover for the last thirty five years for this country until her nineteenth birthday. she had just begun college studying law when a man had approached her, asked her if she wanted to a job with the government. she had declined at first, but something kept nagging her in the back of her head that she was meant for _something more._ she had called the number the man had given her, and the next thing she knew, she was in this building, working simply as a receptionist for three months as they observed her every move before finally deciding to train her.

she learned how to fight in about a hundred different forms of defense, learned how to shoot a weapon despite never even having held one before, and began her job as a spy.

the day she had been led here, underground to the lower level that was hidden from everyone else, that was the day she had discovered her father and he had told her everything. that he has worked for the c.i.a for the last thirty five years, that her brother, jason, had been recruited two years before her, and that she was now being brought into the fold as well.

a family of secret spies.

it’s…kind of awesome.

the paperwork had been tedious, but cheryl still remembers what one of the main rules that was repeated over and over again in that paperwork had been.

a rule that anyone outside of this building, anyone at all, is never to be told a thing about what it is she does here. a rule that says that if cheryl were to ever tell anyone about her life as a spy, about her life as an agent for the c.i.a…they will be killed in order to contain the breach.

anyone who is informed of their lives as spies are treated like viruses…ones that must be contained and handled before an outbreak occurs. _that_ is the reason why her best friends and her fiancee and her professors believe she is nothing more than a banker.

cheryl can’t risk their lives.

but if she’s going to marry heather, if she is going to become her wife…she can’t keep this life from her, can she? she can’t keep secrets from her, she can’t have a marriage based on lies, can she? it’s not fair to heather, who has kept no secrets from her for the entirety of their relationship…

“cheryl?”

her name brings her back down to earth, and she looks at her brother with a sad smile as he observes her with a curious frown.

“everything okay?” he asks softly. cheryl purses her lips and nods once.

“yeah, it’s just, um…heather, my girlfriend, she…she proposed to me.” cheryl says slowly, watching as jason’s eyes widen…and her father’s narrow.

“wow! congratulations, cheryl!” jason says with a grin, jumping up and enveloping her in a hug that has cheryl gripping him tightly, watching over his shoulder as her father purses his lips and stares at her equally so.

“yeah, thanks, jay jay…”

“jason…i’d like a moment alone with your sister, please.” clifford says firmly. jason pulls away from cheryl and turns to look at their father with concern, and he simply exchanges a glance with cheryl before he nods and makes his way out of the room, closing the door shut behind him as he does. cheryl licks her lips and waits patiently, and clifford observes her expressionlessly before he nods down at her left hand.

“i don’t see a ring.”

“i took it off before i came in here. i wanted to tell you first.” cheryl says simply. clifford inhales sharply before he suddenly pushes away from the desk and jumps up from his seat. he buttons up his jacket and makes his way around the desk to his daughter with a raised eyebrow.

“cheryl…you know the rules, you know what you have to do-.”

“i know, daddy. i’ve kept it from her for two years, what makes you think i’d go telling her now?”

“being her girlfriend and being her wife are two very different things, cheryl. at first, you’ll think it’s easy. you’ll have the wedding and your honeymoon and you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world. then slowly…the missions will get harder. you’ll think about her every time you step out of this office and onto a plane to another country where you’re not sure if you’ll even return home to see her. she’ll begin to notice you’re always away on work, and she’ll begin to question what’s going on. she’ll ask you why, over and over again, and one day…you’ll cave. and if you tell her…” clifford trails off, a look in his eyes that cheryl can’t quite comprehend as she swallows the lump that quickly builds in her throat and nods.

“you’ll kill her.” she says simply. clifford sighs and grips her shoulder, giving it a squeeze and giving her a tight lipped smile.

“i won’t kill her, sweetheart. the government won’t give me a choice. the things we do, they are of the utmost importance to keeping the american people _safe._ you can’t risk that just because you’re tired of lying to your girlfriend-.”

“fiancée, and i understand that, daddy. but heather would never say anything-.” cheryl starts, but she’s cut off by a firm grip to her arm and the bared teeth of her father’s barely contained anger.

“cheryl, you listen to me, and you listen to me well. heather hathaway is _never_ to discover what it is you do here. if you tell her a single word about any of this, she will be terminated. it is non-negotiable. is that understood?” he hisses.

cheryl blanches, unable to contain her flinch at the pain that flares up her bicep as she inhales a sharp breath and simply nods once without thinking of the consequences.

“…yes, sir.” she whispers. her father straightens up and smiles with a nod.

“good. in that case…” his smile grows wider before he leans in and presses a kiss to her brow tenderly.

“congratulations, my darling girl.”

—

_“the door to the security office will be descrambled with keller's device. once you’ve entered the security room, you will use keller’s cctv jammer to fry the security feed, where you’ll have five minutes to retrieve the draconis device. you must get it done within five minutes before security is alerted to someone jamming the camera’s feed-.”_

“hey…”

cheryl jumps with a start and quickly shuts the book with the paper detailing her mission, looking up just as heather jumps over the couch and straight onto her lap. cheryl giggles and places her book on the ground out of sight, her hands gripping heather’s hips and pulling her down as their lips meet and her whole body melts into heather’s touch.

“mmm…i love you, cheryl blossom.” heather whispers, kissing her passionately as cheryl’s hands roam underneath her shirt to scratch her nails into her skin.

“i love you too, heather hathaway.” cheryl says with a smile, reaching up to cup heather’s face in her hands. she kisses across her cheek, grinning when heather tickles her stomach before she pulls back and looks into cheryl’s eyes with nothing but awe.

“i cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you, darling. to wake up by your side every morning…to plan a life with you, as an amazing lawyer, and me as a…mediocre doctor.” she teases, prompting cheryl to whine and press a kiss to the corner of her mouth with a shake of her head.

“an _amazing_ doctor.” she says firmly. heather smiles fondly, kisses her gently.

“mmm…point is, we’ll be together forever, and we’ll build a life together. a perfect life with you by my side, confiding in one another, sharing everything with each other…” heather murmurs, kissing her brow, and the guilt…god, the guilt that floods cheryl has her blinking back tears as she chews on her bottom lip with hesitation.

she can’t tell her, she can’t, she can’t do it, they’ll kill her…

_they don’t need to know she knows, cheryl…_

she knows it’s the c.i.a, she knows it’s secret intelligence, she knows she shouldn’t do it, but fuck, she can’t lie to her, she can’t, she loves heather so much and the idea of lying to her for so long…for _forever…_

cheryl grips heather’s hips and pushes her off gently, smiling as best as she can when heather looks at her with a frown.

“what’s wrong, my love?” heather asks softly. cheryl shakes her head and simply grabs heather’s hand, leading her straight across the living room to the hallway of her apartment. she passes the speaker that her music is playing from, and she turns the volume up and heads straight for the bathroom in her room, as far away from where her phone in the living room as possible.

as soon as she enters, she closes the door behind her and turns to face heather, her heart racing and her body trembling with anxiety and fear.

she can’t keep it from her…

“take off your clothes.” cheryl says hoarsely, reaching for the hem of her own shirt and tugging it off quickly. heather’s eyes widen before she’s practically ripping her shirt off and unbuttoning her jeans, and cheryl steps into the shower and turns the water on as she quickly sheds her bra and jeans as well as her underwear until she’s naked. heather is right behind her, and she grips cheryl’s hips and steers her into the shower with a giggle that cheryl quickly ends with a grip to her wrist and a shake of her head.

she turns to face heather slowly, watching as her girlfriend stares at her with a furrowed brow before she licks her lips and lets out a shaky, nervous breath.

“heather…there’s something i have to tell you. because if i’m going to marry you…i can’t keep the truth from you.” cheryl says as quietly as possible just in case, the water falling onto her back harshly as heather’s frown of concern deepens.

“what is it, darling?” she whispers, reaching up to tuck a lock of wet hair behind cheryl’s ear. cheryl can’t even look her in the eye as she casts her gaze downwards and tries her best not to panic.

she can’t keep this from her…but if her father finds out…

_he’ll keep her safe…he’s your father, he loves you and he knows you love her…you just have to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone she knows…_

“heather…what i’m about to tell you is…is insane, and crazy and is impossible to believe but i need you to understand that what i’m telling you is the truth.”

“cheryl, you’re scaring me. what’s going on?” heather says firmly, hands gripping cheryl’s tightly, reassuringly.

and the words escape cheryl before she can stop them.

“i don’t work for a banking company. for the last five years, my job at the bank has been a cover. the truth is…i work for the central intelligence agency, the c.i.a. i’m a spy…an american spy that helps stop those who want to destroy this country and the world through black market deals.” she says quickly, but firmly.

heather blinks once, twice-

then laughs. laughs loudly and pulls cheryl into a hug as she chuckles into her ear.

“oh, good lord, you gave me such a fright! funny little prank, my darling, it’s a good one-.”

“heather…” cheryl grips her waist and pulls heather away, trying her best not to cry as she shakes her head and looks at her sadly.

"it's not a prank. i’m not joking around. i need you to understand-.”

“wait…wait, no, that’s…cheryl?” heather stutters, looking at her with wide eyes filled with confusion and shock and betrayal as cheryl swallows thickly and takes heather’s hand.

“i know, it’s hard to wrap your mind around, but i need you to understand why i’m telling you and why i _haven’t_ told you for so long-.”

“cheryl, what are you playing at? you…no, this is impossible!” heather says loudly, stepping back as cheryl takes her hand and pulls her back into the shower with a whine.

“heather, please, just give me a chance to explain-.”

“explain what?! you work…jesus, cheryl, you work for the c.i.a? what are you talking about, you…you’re _cheryl_ , you’re not some secret spy for god’s sake!” heather exclaims, trying to pull away from her again, but cheryl refuses to let her go.

“heather, please, you can’t say a word of this to anyone, you need to understand that! you can’t say anything-.”

“say anything about what?! cheryl, i…you’ve got to be joking-.”

“i’m not!” cheryl yells, unable to stop herself, and heather winces, looks at her with wide eyes as cheryl takes heather’s face into her hands in a panicked frenzy.

“i’m telling you the truth because you’re going to become my wife and i can’t lie to you anymore. but i need you, god, i need you to not say a _word_ of this to _anyone,_ heather. the consequences of anyone else finding out will be astronomical…it’s already a risk just telling you.” cheryl says in a hushed but quick whisper.

heather swallows thickly, and she looks at cheryl in complete confusion before she’s hopping out of the shower and reaching for a towel.

“heather? wh-what are you doing?” cheryl whimpers, stepping closer to her, but heather steps back again as she begins shrugging her clothes back on.

“i…i can’t, i n-need time, time to think-.”

“heather, you can’t say anything to anyone!” cheryl says frantically, jumping out of the shower and almost slipping as heather looks up at her with sad eyes.

“i w-won’t, i just…i can’t be here, i can’t look at you, i need time to think.” she croaks out, and before cheryl can do anything, heather shrugs her shirt on and runs out of the room, leaving cheryl a sopping, wet mess behind her as she fights back tears and tries not to panic.

—

**liverpool, england**

“how are we looking, cheryl?”

archie’s voice echoes in her ear as cheryl tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and accepts the champagne glass that’s given to her with a smile.

“still no sign of belikov, he must still be with the device. anything on your end?” she murmurs under her breath, touching the earpiece tucked into her ear to communicate with archie on the other end of the room where he’s smiling and shaking hands with another man, looking over at her with the smallest shake of his head. as soon as the man disappears, archie grins at her and she sees his mouth moving before his words echo in her ear.

“you know, you look good as a blonde.” cheryl fights back a smile and tucks the lock of blonde hair behind her ear, the wig cap slightly scratching the back of her scalp as she does. the sequined dress she’s wearing isn’t exactly comfortable, either, and this is the part of the job she hates: having to look the part with the fancy dresses and heels and wigs so that she doesn’t raise any suspicion. it’s hard to kick someone’s ass when you’re wearing all of this…

“i’m an engaged woman now, archie, watch your flirting.”

“oh ha ha, like you’d ever be interested in me even if you were straight…” archie suddenly trails off, and cheryl’s heart skips a beat when she sees him looking behind her. she doesn’t turn, doesn’t want to raise suspicion, but archie confirms hers five seconds later when-

“belikov just joined the party. i’ll cause the distraction in ten, watch my mark.”

“got it.” cheryl simply co-mingles and tries not to think about her last conversation with heather, tries her hardest to stay focused on the mission, but it’s hard to…

_“cheryl…god, why didn’t you tell me?” heather whispers, looking at her as if she’s a complete stranger as cheryl bites down on her trembling bottom lip and looks out at the stretch of empty road on either side of them. she told heather to meet her here, somewhere no one could see them, and told her to leave her phone behind. she’s taking every precaution she can._

_“i couldn’t tell anyone, heather. i wasn’t even supposed to tell you, this is highly classified, but i…i couldn’t lie to you anymore. you’re going to be my wife. we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, i couldn’t keep such a big secret from you anymore.” cheryl says slowly. heather scoffs and shakes her head._

_“but you did, cheryl. that’s the thing! for two years, and i…this is such a huge part of your life! i mean…what is it you even do?” heather exclaims, blinking back tears while cheryl tries her best to do the same._

_“the c.i.a picks up on weapons and dealings that could pose a threat to the united states, sometimes even threats with international implications, and sends me out to stop it with an alias to keep my identity protected. they fly me all over the world, russia, paris, geneva…in fact, i’m heading to london tonight for another mission.” cheryl says firmly. heather shakes her head again, laughing softly, but not because she finds anything funny._

_“mission…god, this is insane, cheryl, all those times you’ve gone to different states for a client, you’ve been going overseas instead on these…missions?” she says incredulously._

_“not overseas all the time, but…yes.” cheryl murmurs, guilt gripping her when heather runs her fingers through her hair with a scoff._

_“this is absolute insanity-.”_

_“i know…i know, i know it’s crazy, but heather…i told you before not to say anything and i’m repeating it again so you understand-.”_

_“i won’t say anything, cheryl. i promise, but…you have to understand where i’m coming from here. i just found out the woman I love, the woman i want to marry has been lying to me for two years!” heather cries out, tears falling down her face while cheryl watches her with nothing but anguish._

_“i know…i’m so sorry, heather.” she whispers. it’s quiet for a few moments, the both of them stewing in this madness before heather sighs shakily._

_“is it safe, at least? what you’re doing tonight, will…will you be safe?” she asks. cheryl licks her lips and looks up at her with a sad smile._

_“i…can’t answer that.” heather’s eyes widen in shock, and she hesitates before she steps forward and takes cheryl’s hand into her own._

_“i can’t stop you from going, can i?” she croaks out. cheryl’s sad smile only grows._

_“no. this is something i have to do.” heather swallows thickly before she kisses cheryl gently and pulls her in for a hug._

_“then please…please be careful.” she whispers into her ear. and cheryl grips her closer and nods against her shoulder with a sigh._

_“always.”_

cheryl has no idea what she’s going to come home to. will heather still be there waiting for her? or will she find a letter from her fiancée telling her it’s over between them? either way, cheryl’s screwed. if heather decides to stay, cheryl needs to tell her everything, and some of the answers may be ones heather won’t like…and if heather decides to go, the chances of her being killed by the c.i.a will be even higher.

she has no idea what to do, stuck in this stagnant state and now stuck in another goddamn country while she has to focus on a mission when her mind is back home in riverdale, california.

“cheryl? i’m causing the distraction now.” archie’s voice echoes in her ear, and cheryl lets out a shaky breath and nods in his direction. archie suddenly sways on the spot, catching the attention of one of the men in his group as he waves off his concern with a smile, and then he’s taking two steps forward-

and collapsing to the ground.

the room explodes into chaos, everyone gasping in shock and concern as the security officers around the perimeter of the room run forward to archie, and cheryl uses the distraction to slip past the rope that blocks off the downstairs area and makes her way down as quick as her high heeled legs will carry her.

she blinks with a hiss against the bright blue contacts in her eyes and takes a right into the security hallway, and when the rush of pounding footsteps echoes out ahead of her, she pushes herself through the door to the left and hides behind it just as two security guards run past her and make their way towards the main room where everyone is gathered. cheryl lets out a sigh of relief and exits her secret room before making her way down the hallway towards the security room once more.

“alright archie, keep their attention on you just a little longer.” cheryl murmurs, letting go of the earpiece and ending the transmission before she reaches into the purse she brought with her. she pulls out the descrambler device that looks like a normal smartphone, connects it to the keypad in front of her and watches the numbers flash on the screen for a solid minute before the numbers _‘3 6 2 9’_ flash. the keypad lights up green and the door opens, and cheryl pushes herself through while quickly glancing up and down the hallway to make sure no one is coming.

the room is small, consisting only of a bunch of tv’s and a man sitting at the desk, and as soon as he hears the door open, he spins his chair around, eyes widening when, instead of a guard, he sees a blonde haired woman wearing a red sequined dress standing before him.

“hey, how did you-.”

cheryl doesn’t give him the chance to reach for his gun, grabs him by the tie of his shirt and pulls him up out of his chair and into the wall behind her with a grunt before she’s throwing her elbow down right onto the side of his head. she follows it with a roundhouse kick and watches him slump to the floor, unconscious.

she takes a second to breath before she makes her way to the tv’s and glances at each of them, trying to find what she’s looking for.

a briefcase in belikov’s office just around the corner from here…

“archie, i’ve located the device. using the cctv jammer now." cheryl reaches into her purse and grabs the pen inside it, quickly pressing down on the cap and wincing at the loud buzzing sound that echoes out before she watches all the screens in front of her turn to static.

"cameras are jammed, grabbing the device now. give me three minutes.” she says quickly, exiting the security room and making her way around the corner of the hallway, constantly keeping an eye out for anyone who might try to surprise her.

she finds belikov’s office easily, and reaches into her purse once more for the lock pick she has, two pins in the fan in there that she pulls off the top of it. she quickly shoves them in, fiddles around with it until she hears the click and pushes the door open.

she shuts the door behind her, rushes over to belikov’s desk and opens the briefcase-

it’s empty.

her heart drops.

“no, no, no, how…” cheryl tries to pry open the foam casing to see if there’s a secret compartment underneath, but there’s nothing. the briefcase is just…empty.

“archie, we have a problem! the briefcase is empty!” cheryl says in a panic, glancing around the room for any kind of secret vault or _something_ that the briefcase will be in-

“cheryl, get out of there, it’s too risky! you only have two minutes left, we have to abort-.”

“it has to be here somewhere!” cheryl says quickly, checking behind paintings, in vases, anything at all-

“cheryl, the guards are back on high alert because of the jamming frequency, you need to get out of there, now!”

cheryl hesitates, feels nothing but anger and failure flood her before she’s rushing out of the room and back down the hallway towards the staircase, heels clacking on the tiled floor-

“this area is restricted.”

cheryl stops short halfway up the spiral staircase, sees a short, korean man with glasses perched onto his nose watching her with nothing but suspicion as she grips the railing and quickly falls into role.

“i’m sorry, i…god, is the world supposed to be spinning this much?” she slurs with a chuckle, laying on the thickest texan accent she can muster and making her way up the stairs with a stumble as the man steps forward with narrowed eyes.

“as i said, this area is restricted.” he says firmly, his english perfect despite his thick korean accent.

“i’m sorry, i…was just looking for the bathroom, this p-place is a maze!” cheryl hiccups, reaching out to grab the man’s elbow for support. he glares at her and suddenly grips her arm tightly when she tries to move past him. cheryl swallows the lump in her throat and quickly builds up the waterworks.

“please, s-sir, i…my boss will kill me if he knows i’ve been drinking on the job, but everybody kept offering me champagne and i couldn’t resist, i…please…” she sobs pathetically, a tear even falling down her cheek as the man sighs before he lets her go and nods to the right of the ballroom up ahead.

“the bathroom is to the right. try not to get lost next time.” he says with mock sweetness, but cheryl pretends to eat it right up.

“oh, you’re a sweetheart, god bless you! i like your tie!” she hiccups with a giggle and a touch of said tie, making her way past him and continuing her stumble until she’s well out of his sight before- 

“archie, i’m out. i’ll meet you outside in ten.”

—

**riverdale, california**

“heather, i’m home!” cheryl calls out, smiling as she carries her suitcase in and locks the door behind her, and when she’s met with silence, she spins around slowly, her heart beating wildly against her chest.

“heather?” she calls out again, licking her lips nervously as she lets go of her suitcase and makes her way into the living room.

heather’s left her…she really left her, oh god, this-

the couch is overturned.

cheryl stops, sees how the lamp in the corner is broken in half and the pillows of the couch are strewn all over the place-

there was a fight.

_no…no, no, no, no this isn’t happening, please-_

cheryl runs straight for their bedroom, screaming heather’s name with bile rising in the back of her throat and tears welling in her eyes, and when she finds it empty, she rushes towards the guest room, notices a blood stain on the door to the bathroom-

“heather?” cheryl barely whispers, pushing the door open-

she falls to her knees.

heather is laying in the bathtub, eyes wide open and staring, blood staining every inch of her neck and body downwards, skin pale, mouth agape in surprise…

cheryl can’t scream. can’t think, can’t breathe…can’t do anything.

she shuffles forward somehow, her limbs willing her to move to the woman she loves, who know lays dead before her, not moving, no longer breathing or thinking or feeling or _loving-_

she’s gone.

she reaches out to touch her, feels how cold her body is beneath her fingertips, this must’ve happened hours ago when she was on her flight back, she…no, this isn’t real, it can’t be-

“heather, please…please, please, please, wake up! wake up, p-please-.” cheryl shakes her, unable to contain her sobs, but it’s no use.

cheryl stares down at her shaking hands covered in heather’s blood, and one thought comes into her mind.

cheryl knows who’s responsible for this.

she’s scrambling out of the room, trying her best to wipe her hands on her pants with breathless gasps as she grabs her car keys and leaves her apartment, rushing down towards the garage.

everything else is a blur.

she doesn’t even know how she manages to make it to the _paragon financial corp._ building in one piece without crashing her car considering how much she’s crying, but her car screeches to a halt in front of the building in less than ten minutes, heather’s blood still fresh on her clothes and hands.

she marches into the building, choking on sobs and thankful that it’s the middle of the night and no one’s around as she heads to the elevator. it opens to reveal no one inside, but cheryl uses her fingerprint on the button regardless, watches it light up before the doors close. she clutches her chest, tries her best to just breathe as the doors open to reveal the white room.

“come on, come on, come on!” cheryl gasps out, fresh tears falling as the walls turn red and infrared camera reads her before the door are opening and she’s rushing straight towards her father’s office.

people stare, but she pays no mind, one thing and one thing only running through her brain.

she knows who’s responsible for this.

she bursts through the door to her father’s office and finds the man himself looking at her with no emotion whatsoever on his face.

he sees his daughter covered in blood before him and doesn’t even seem to care.

her bottom lip trembles as she tries her best to stare at him in anger, but all it looks like is defeat as her father reaches into one of the drawers of his desk and pulls out what looks like a tape recorder.

“security picked this up yesterday evening…a voice message left on your phone.” he says simply before he pushes play.

and heather’s voice echoes through.

_“cheryl…darling, it’s…it’s me, it’s heather. not that i need to tell you that, but…i felt like i need to. because maybe you wouldn’t know it’s me. i don’t think i’d recognize your voice if you called me after this…revelation.”_

heather’s voice is slurred like she’s been drinking, and cheryl’s knees shake as she all but collapses into the chair opposite her father’s desk with a choked out sob.

her voice…she sounds so sad, so defeated and now…oh god…

_“i…god, i don’t even know why i’m calling, but i am, because i miss you and because…i don’t even know if you’re alive or not right now. and that terrifies me. because i love you, cheryl blossom. and i don’t care about…about the lies and the spy stuff and working for the c.i.a, all i care about is_ **_you._ ** _so just…come home, cheryl. come back to me so i can tell you this in person so i can tell you…that i want to spend the rest of my life with you, c.i.a agent or not. i love you…come home safe.”_

he watches cheryl break down, watches her cry and choke on her own tears and saliva as she tries her best to wipe her tears with her bloody hands, staining her face with her love’s blood, and he does nothing.

instead, he pushes himself out of his seat and makes his way around the desk, offers no comfort to his daughter and simply stands before her as if he’s about to give her a lecture.

“you knew the rules, cheryl. it was out of my hands. once security picked it up, it was over for her. i told you not to say anything to her, i _warned_ you and you chose not to heed my warning! this is no one’s fault but your own!” he hisses, and before cheryl can react, he’s gripping her chin and pulls her gaze up to meet his. she grabs his wrist and tries to pry him off, but it’s no use, her body is just…unresponsive. defeated…broken.

“now…clean yourself up, go home and call the police. we’ve put everything in place to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. tell them you just came home from a work flight and found the place and heather as it is. once you’re done with them, report back here. we’ve located the draconis device in taipei, at the beitou library. you’ll leave as soon as possible.” he deadpans, letting go of her and making his way back around the desk as if he hasn’t just told cheryl he’s murdered the woman she loves.

cheryl bares her teeth and glares up at him, and before clifford can say anything-

cheryl grabs a pair of scissors from the cup holder on his desk and grabs his tie, pulling him forward over the desk and holding the scissors to his throat as he grunts in shock.

“i’m not doing anything for you. i quit.” cheryl growls, and clifford opens his mouth to say something, but cheryl’s throwing down the scissors and pushing him back into his chair before he can. she walks out of the room without a backwards glance, makes her way back towards the elevators and back to her car with one thought on her mind:

revenge.

—

her apartment becomes a crime scene. cheryl ends up moving into her cousin betty’s house, unable to bear the thought or idea of living in the apartment her fiancee was killed in, and betty welcomes her with open arms.

the funeral is small, consisting only of heather’s family and friends in california. betty and veronica hold her hand and keep her from collapsing during it, her saving graces in what would’ve otherwise been something unbearable to go through.

no one from work comes, except for archie and kevin keller, their op-tech guy, and cheryl is forever thankful to them. they don’t know that heather was killed by the very people they work for, believe it was a breaking and entering accident like everyone else, but archie holds her close and tells her he’s sorry, and kevin tells her he’s here for her.

cheryl goes home to betty’s afterwards, curls up under her bed and spends the next four days there, barely moving, barely eating, barely sleeping.

betty and veronica take care of her as best as they can, and cheryl is grateful, but she wishes they would just leave. she wants to mourn in peace…

she doesn’t go back to work. she receives endless messages from her father, from her brother, from archie, but she doesn’t answer any of them.

heather is dead because of her father. she refuses to do a single thing more for him. right now, she wishes he were dead more than anything. he killed the woman she loves, the woman she was supposed to marry, and he expects her to carry on like nothing happened…it’s insane.

she will never work for him again.

it’s been almost two weeks now since heather’s death, and cheryl finally finds the strength to pull herself out of bed when she wakes up in the morning. she cuddles up in her blanket and makes her way into the kitchen slowly, her body aching with each step. she hears murmured voices, and as she walks into the kitchen, both betty and veronica look up at her in surprise.

“cheryl…hey!” veronica breathes, jumping up off the bar stool she’s sat on and rushing over to her. cheryl simply purses her lips and nods before she holds the blanket closer around her body in an attempt to stop veronica from hugging her, which the raven haired girl takes as a sign that she doesn’t want to be touched. she stops short and sighs, and cheryl clears her throat and makes her way over to the fridge to grab a glass of water.

“cheryl?” betty asks softly, watching her with wide eyes filled with so much concern, cheryl begins to wonder if betty is the only family member that actually cares about her.

“i’m fine, cousin, i just…i need to go into school today. i need something to distract me, something to keep me occupied…” cheryl murmurs, draining the glass dry and pouring herself another one as veronica and betty exchange a quick glance.

“cheryl, honey, are you sure that’s a good idea?” veronica asks gently, watching with sad eyes as cheryl tries her best to smile at her two best friends, but it comes out as more of a grimace.

“yes. i need to do this. i’ll be okay, i’ll call you if i need anything.” cheryl promises. veronica sighs, and betty purses her lips and nods once before she grips cheryl’s hand in her own and gives it a loving squeeze.

“okay. but just remember, we’re always here for you, okay?” she tells her. cheryl nods once, blinking back tears as she tries to smile again before she’s making her way back to her room to put on some clothes and head to her college campus.

maybe working on a paper or attending a class will take her mind off everything.

turns out…it does. for only a couple of hours.

until professor honey is asking her to stay back after class and cheryl makes her way towards him only for him to look at her with somewhat guilty eyes before he’s sighing loudly.

“cheryl, considering your… _circumstances,_ i’ve decided to give you this essay off, an extended break for you to recover from recent events.” he says simply.

cheryl’s heart falls.

“what? n-no, i don’t need a break, i’m fine, professor honey-.”

“cheryl, your fiancee was murdered in your apartment, i don’t think you’re fine, i think you’re mad and you want justice. what i implore for you to do instead, is take this time off to spend it with your family and really reflect heather’s death. accept it and…move on from it.” he says, gathering his papers, distracted…

distracted so he doesn’t see when cheryl grips the lapels of his jacket and pulls him so close, his face is inches away from hers.

“don’t. talk. about her. don’t even _think_ about her. i don’t need a break, what i _need_ is to be put to work. so you give me that damn essay to complete before i break your nose on this mahogany desk of yours!” cheryl hisses through bared teeth. professor honey’s eyes widen before he whimpers and nods once, and cheryl lets him go and begins making her way out of the classroom before-

“you’re mad, cheryl! don’t take that anger out on the people who don’t deserve it! take it out on the ones that do!” he calls out. cheryl falters, her heart racing before she swallows the lump in her throat and makes her way towards the parking lot.

what does he know, that stupid idiot, she’s always hated professor honey and now she has even more reason to…talking about things he knows nothing about…

she makes her way towards the underground parking lot of the college campus, heading straight for her car when she notices something…odd.

it’s empty.

there’s cars everywhere, yes, but there’s not a single person in sight and it’s the middle of the afternoon. what she can see, however, is a van up ahead, along with a man jumping out of it that looks like he’s wearing a suit far too pricey to be a college student-

cheryl’s turning back around and heading for the campus with her heart pounding in her throat and her limbs shaking slightly.

she has no idea who he is, but she hears the van door slam way after he’s jumped out of it and two pairs of footsteps which means he isn’t alone.

someone’s after her.

she quickens her pace, realizes too late that the exit is way too far for her to make, and ends up turning right and sliding between two cars before she’s crouching down and keeping herself hidden.

she hears the two pairs of footsteps slow down before-

“she must be somewhere! find her!”

cheryl licks her dry lips and reaches into her back pocket for her phone, quickly pressing the number one speed dial and holding it up to her ear.

“hello?” veronica’s voice echoes out.

“ronnie, it’s cheryl! can you call me back? my phone’s acting weird, i wanna see if it’s working.” cheryl says in a breathless whisper as she continues maneuvering between cars.

“uh, yeah, sure. i can do that.”

“thank you!” cheryl hands up, leaves her phone at her feet and quickly scurries off, and less than ten seconds later, the shrill ring of a phone echoes out from a spot five cars away from her. she hears two sets of footsteps running, and she glances over the hood of the car she’s hiding behind to see them pointing their guns at her phone on the ground with confused looks on their faces.

she takes off her heels and rushes forward, sliding over the hood of the car and catching dumbass number one with a kick right to the back. he falls forward just as cheryl blocks a swing from the second dumbass and twists his wrist so he drops his gun. she sees a silencer attached to the pistol, and immediately throws him through the window of one of the cars head first, the glass shattering on impact. the first guard recovers and reaches for his gun, also with a silencer attached to it, but cheryl kicks it out of his hand and spin kicks him right in the temple before she’s pressing her knee down on the back of his neck to keep him from getting back up.

sweat drips from her brow as she grabs his gun on the floor beside him and presses it to the back of his head.

“who sent you?” she hisses. the man chokes, writhes underneath her and she presses the barrel of the silencer further into his skull.

“tell me who sent you!” she screams, and when he simply glares at her, she smashes the butt of the gun over his head and knocks him out.

the screech of tires echoes out, and before cheryl even has time to gather her bearings, she’s spinning around with the gun in her hand aimed right at the car that pulls up beside her-

the passenger door flies open-

and jason blossom looks at her with nothing but panic in his eyes.

“get in!” he shouts. cheryl looks at him in shock.

“jay jay?” she whispers.

“cheryl, get in the car, now!” jason roars, reaching into the glove compartment and pulling out a gun as cheryl hesitates before she runs in and shuts the passenger door behind her. another car comes screeching around the corner behind them, and cheryl quickly cocks the gun in her hand and goes to aim out of the passenger window, but jason’s grabbing her arm and pulling her back inside.

“don’t! i’ve got this!” jason growls before he’s speeding forward and quickly turning the wheel until their car is facing the one heading for them. he shoots easily right at the car’s engine, and cheryl feels the rush of flames and hears the deafening boom as the car explodes right in front of them.

“jesus! jason, what the hell is going on?!” cheryl screams, looking at her brother with nothing but panic as he speeds out of the parking as fast as his car can take them.

“listen to me, cheryl! what i’m about to tell you is insane and will change your life forever, but i need you to understand what i’m saying and realize it’s the truth!” jason says firmly. cheryl feels bile rise in the back of her throat, but she stays silent as jason looks at her with nothing but panic and sadness in his eyes.

“dad sent those men to kill you. he’s not c.i.a, and you’re not working for the american government. cheryl…dad is part of the alliance, and this branch you’re part of, the covert operations branch, the branch of the c.i.a you _think_ you’re working for? it’s part of the alliance, too.” jason says quickly as he continues to speed down the road.

cheryl’s mind begins to hurt almost immediately.

“what…”

“you’re working _for_ the very enemy you thought you’ve been fighting! cheryl, i wish i could tell you differently, but dad has been lying to you for five years! you aren’t a spy for the american government, and every job you’ve finished successfully has put the world in more danger! dad is not the good guy here!” jason exclaims, but cheryl won’t hear it, she can’t hear it, it seems impossible it…

oh god, she’s going to throw up.

“pull over.” she manages to get out, and jason takes two sharp left turns before the car is screeching to a halt and cheryl is throwing herself out of it.

she throws up right outside the car, coughing and spluttering with tears clinging to her eyelashes as jason reaches out and rubs her back soothingly with a sigh.

“i’m sorry, cheryl…dad believes you’ve betrayed him because you haven’t shown up to work in weeks, i overheard him calling a hit on you and i couldn’t let it happen. i got here as soon as i could…” he whispers.

“dad…jason, what, what are you talking about-.” cheryl croaks out, more tears falling, he can’t be telling the truth…she’s…

she’s been working for the bad guys all along?

“cheryl, i know this is a lot to take in. you know about the alliance, dad told you about them-.”

“twelve leaders with d-different branches around the w-world that deal in black market trades in an attempt to t-take over, achieve g-global domination-.” cheryl manages to choke out with a nod, and jason nods with her.

“dad’s one of them. one of the twelve leaders, and the branch you work for, silo four…it’s one of the twelve. dad has everyone in that office believing they work for the c.i.a but they don’t! he’s deceived everyone…including you.” he whispers. cheryl looks at him with nothing but anguish and shock.

“how…how do you know all of this?” she breathes. jason hesitates, and it quickly dawns on cheryl that she doesn’t even know if jason is telling the truth. if her father is telling the truth, if anyone is, oh god…

she can’t trust anyone.

“cheryl-.”

“you stay away from me.” cheryl hisses before she’s jumping out of the car and running as fast as she can, ignoring jason’s screams for her to come back as she does.

—

_“dad sent those men to kill you.”_

_“he’s not c.i.a and you’re not working for the american government.”_

_“he’s deceived everyone…including you.”_

cheryl’s head hasn’t stopped spinning, and she’s trying so hard to wrap her mind around what jason has just told her, but she can’t seem to. her father is working with the alliance? is _part_ of the alliance? she’s…she’s been working for the enemy this whole time? she’s not even part of the c.i.a? how is this possible, how has she not noticed or realized, how has this slipped past her? it doesn’t make sense, it can’t be true…

there’s only one way to find out.

the plan slowly formulates in her mind, and cheryl’s covered in sweat by the time she runs back to betty’s house, and the second she steps through the door, betty is standing in the kitchen, looking at her in surprise as she comes to a stop in front of her with a breathless gasp.

“cheryl? what-."

"i don't have time to explain, cousin betty, but i need a favor. i need you to not ask questions and i need you to do as i say.” cheryl gets out quickly, clutching the stitch in her side after running for almost an hour straight. betty’s eyes widen, and she stops washing the dishes and looks at cheryl with concern.

“cheryl, what are you talking about-.”

“no questions! promise me, right now!”

“cheryl, i’m a reporter, it’s my entire lifestyle to ask questions-.” betty starts with a laugh of surprise, but cheryl quickly shuts her down with a wave of her hand.

“this time, don’t ask any! i need your passport and your credit card, i’ll pay you back, i promise.” cheryl says firmly. betty blinks once before she scoffs in disbelief.

“what-.”

“betty, please! do this for me, i am begging you!” cheryl cries out, tears building in her eyes, and betty swallows thickly before she nods once.

“i…okay, yeah, it’s in the second drawer on my bedside table-.”

cheryl’s running to betty’s room before her cousin can ask anymore questions.

she came to this conclusion the second she began running from her brother, the second his words hit her brain.

she’s going to taipei. she’s getting that device. and then…

she’s getting answers.

—

she uses the blonde wig from her mission in london to perfect betty cooper’s haircut, taking scissors to it to and hacking off the length to about mid-back before she curls it, equal to the photo on betty’s passport. she uses a pair of bright green contacts she used on a mission a couple of weeks back, plops them into her eyes, and examines the photo of betty before looking into the mirror. there’s major differences between betty and cheryl herself, despite the fact they’re cousins, but the alias will work. cheryl just needs to be clever.

and clever she is. she was trained for this. to deceive. to lie. to manipulate.

just like her father…

cheryl takes a deep breath in and adjusts her wig once more, making sure it’s completely tied down to her scalp so there’s no chance of it being pulled off before she grabs a pen from her bag and pokes the tiniest black dot above betty’s lip on the picture of her passport. she places one on her own lip, right on the spot she put it on betty’s photo, then pops a piece of gum into her mouth and puts her sunglasses on.

she’s making her way through the airport, popping her gum obnoxiously and strutting in her red thigh high boots, and sure, she grabs the attention of a few men with her skirt and crop top showing off as much skin as possible, but as soon as she reaches the boarding desk, she pulls out her ticket and her passport and looks at the woman before her.

“boarding a flight to taipei.” she says simply, popping her gum as the woman frowns and holds her hand out.

“ticket and passport, please?” she asks. cheryl hands them over before she pulls her glasses down the slightest bit and looks at the woman with a soft gasp.

“god, i _love_ that lipstick, where’d you get it?” she gushes, nodding at her lips and pushing her glasses back up her face as the woman chuckles.

“sephora. twenty percent off!” she says with a smile, looking down at betty’s passport, and cheryl holds out the tube of lipstick in her hands.

“see, i love this color, but i don’t think it pops, it’s a rouge red!” she says quickly, sighing with a pout as the girl looks down at the lipstick without even glancing again at betty’s passport. she nods, impressed.

“i think it pops! i’ve tried it before, you should wear it on your vacation!” she says with a giggle, handing betty’s passport back to cheryl, who grins and nods like an eager puppy.

“i totally will! thanks for the input, sugar!” she says with a wink. the girl giggles again and hands cheryl her ticket back.

“alright, you’re all set! have a good time in taipai, miss cooper!”

“thanks, dollface!” she says excitedly before she’s walking away with her bag over her shoulder.

simple. easy.

now comes the hard part.

—

**taipei, taiwan**

cheryl wakes up with a groan and a pounding in her head that has her blinking back tears of pain. she tries to lift her arms, but she hears the rattle of handcuffs and looks down to see her hands cuffed to the seat she’s sitting in.

she groans again and looks around the room with bleary eyes, her whole body throbbing. she remembers landing in taipei…remembers changing into black pants and a black long sleeved shirt in the bathroom of the airport, trying her best to be as invisible as possible. she’d caught a cab to a couple of blocks outside the beitou library, and had walked the rest of the way, but she’d barely gotten inside the damn building before she’d felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and now…

_someone’s captured me. shit…dammit, cheryl, you weren’t careful enough._

cheryl attempts to move the chair, attempts to bust out of it, but she barely gets the chance before the door to the right of her opens. she looks up in surprise, her heart racing wildly, and to her complete and utter shock…

the man from london walks through, the one who stopped her at the staircase. she sucks in a breath, her panic building as the man walks up to her slowly, that smirk on his face widening with each step. he comes to a stop right in front of her, grabs the lamp beside her and shines it right into her eyes as two guards move to either side of her and grip her face to tilt her head back, meaty fingers crushing her chin. she tries to fight their hold, but it’s no use, her eyes burning from the light.

“if i recall correctly…your eyes were blue in london.” he says with a chuckle, pushing the light further into her face and causing her to squirm as the men gripping her tighten their hold. her heart is racing so wildly, but she breathes in through her nose and tries her best not to panic.

she’s about to be tortured, she can feel it, fuck, fuck, fuck…

“tell me, pretty girl…who it is you work for.” the man hisses, nodding to the guards, who dig their fingers into her chin and cheeks, gripping her face impossibly harder. cheryl winces and simply stays silent, and the man sighs before he nods at the guards. they force her face up once more, and the man pushes the lamp so close to cheryl’s skin, she can feel the heat of the bulb inches away from her face. she squeezes her eyes shut and cries out.

“okay, okay!” she screams, squirming in the guard’s hold. they let her go as the man pulls the light back and cheryl blinks rapidly to dispel the tears in her eyes with a breathless gasp.

“i want a name.” the man growls, grabbing a chair and placing it right in front of cheryl, who looks up at him with pursed lips before she nods once.

“get a pen and paper.” she croaks out. the man reaches into the pocket inside his coat, pulls out a pen and a notepad, and cheryl lets out a shaky breath and begins.

“two ‘s’s…an ‘a’…‘y’, ‘m’…two more ‘s’s, an ‘i’…and a ‘k’.” cheryl murmurs, the man writing it down quickly before he looks up at her imploringly.

“reverse it.” she sighs.

the man begins writing the letters in reverse on the paper, and it isn’t long before he’s looking up at cheryl with his teeth bared and anger shining in his eyes.

cheryl can’t help but grin widely as she laughs at the look on his face.

fuck it, she’s about to be tortured regardless, and what the fuck else does she have right now? she’s lost everything…

“i’m the worst person you could’ve captured, you imbecile. i have nothing to lose, and therefore nothing to give you.” she hisses, grinning as the man sighs before he puts away his notepad and pen and stands.

“that’s not entirely true.” he says simply. he nods to the two guards, and cheryl feels them grip her face once again, a wince escaping her at how they dig their fingers into her already bruised skin just as the man grabs what looks like pliers.

_ah fuck, fuck, fuck, this is gonna hurt…_

“you still have teeth.” he says menacingly. cheryl swallows the hard lump in her throat and blinks back tears as the man places a clamp between her lips and pries her mouth open against her will, the cold metal harsh against her skin. she yells out desperately, and the man pulls the clamp out and looks down at her imploringly, perhaps thinking she’s about to tell him what he wants to hear…

instead:

“c-can you start with the teeth in the back?” she croaks out, another tear falling before she can stop it, and the man clenches his jaw before he’s shoving the clamp back into her mouth, forcing her mouth wide open and placing the pliers right at the back tooth, clenching it, pulling-

cheryl’s screams of agony are so loud, she’s positive her voice box tears.

—

cheryl isn’t sure how many hours have passed. it could be days for all she knows. her mouth is aching, her head is pounding, and she’s about ninety five percent sure that she’s minutes away from getting another tooth pulled out, but right now, she’s excited despite the pain she’s in.

she’s managed to work her hand out of the handcuffs. she can get out of here now.

she can get out of here and get the device and get back home, get the answers she wants and needs-

“the morphine we gave you should be beginning to fade by now…” cheryl’s head snaps up, her vision blurry from pain as the man makes his way towards her slowly, his glasses perched on his nose and a sadistic grin on his face. cheryl inhales sharply and looks up at him apprehensively, and he comes to a stop in front of her, kneeling down to look her in the face, and she swallows the lump in her throat and maintains eye contact despite the fear pounding through her heart.

“i can give you another shot, take the pain away…or i can rip another tooth out, and leave you here to feel every second of the pain until you can no longer bear it.” he whispers through slightly bared teeth, reaching out to grip her chin between his fingers, pressing into her sore and swollen mouth, and the anger that runs through her veins has her glaring up at him with a hiss.

“tell me who sent you!” he growls.

cheryl slips her left hand out of the handcuff and swings it around to slam into the side of his temple. he cries out, falling to the ground as cheryl grabs the pliers from the tray beside her, stained with her blood, and grips the man’s face between her fingers now. he looks up at her with panic, and cheryl grins despite herself.

he’s already scared. this will be easy.

“where’s the draconis device?” she hisses, squeezing his jaw between her fingers and forcing his mouth open before threatening him with the pliers-

“third floor!” he screams, writhing underneath her as she pins him to the ground with a knee to his sternum.

“what room?!” she growls.

“the door marked red! please-.”

he barely finishes his sentence before cheryl swings the pliers right across his head, knocking him out cold. she jumps up, ignoring the pain in her body and especially her mouth, and makes her way out of the room, where she’s immediately met by two guards, and she swings the pliers right into the stomach of the first guard before she spins and knees the other guard right in the stomach, too. she swings the pliers as if she’s throwing a baseball bat, the pliers flying from her hand and slamming right into the first guard’s nose until he falls backwards, sprawled out on the ground out cold. the second guard recovers quickly and wraps his arms around her chest, and she uses the momentum of him pulling her back to jump up and throw him over her shoulder, where she elbows him right in the temple and watches him crumple to the ground. she pants for air, sweat dropping from her brow before she’s making her way towards the fire escape head of her.

she has no idea if more guards will come, no idea if she’s seconds away from being killed, but she runs and doesn’t look back. the second she climbs five flights of stairs, realizing she was in the basement of what she guesses is the library, she makes her way to the door marked three and bursts through it. she keeps her eyes peeled for a red door, her heart pounding, her mouth aching terribly, and she rounds the corner-

red door. red door-

she runs straight for it, pushing it open and seeing an office of desks and a steel gate, and behind the steel gate…

the device. it’s here.

cheryl runs straight for it, grabs what looks like a throw over cover on one of the desks and makes her way towards the device. it looks simple, a small device with two legs attached, and cheryl has no idea what it does, but she doesn’t care. she gathers the device into it and bundles it up before she makes her way back out to the fire escape and looks desperately for an exit door.

she hears a few guards yell at her in mandarin, telling her to stop, but she ignores them and makes her way towards the gate, towards the hole she had cut into it to get in the first place. she heard gunshots, hears those bullets reverberate right by her head as she quickly ducks for cover and guns it, running until her legs are absolutely burning and there’s barely any air left in her lungs.

she has the device, she can get out of here now-

she’s running towards the street and jumping into the first cab she finds, screaming at him to get her to the airport as she does.

—

**riverdale, california**

everyone stares as she walks through the doors to silo four, steps foot into the _paragon financial corp._ building, but she pays no attention, just continues walking until she reaches her father’s office with her mouth swollen and scrapes on her forehead and chin…

her father looks up at her in surprise as she walks through the door, and cheryl practically throws the device onto his desk, glaring at him before she nods once.

“i’m back.” she says hoarsely.

nothing but pride shines in the eyes of clifford blossom, and cheryl feels sick to her stomach at the sight of it.

“i’m back…but i’m taking a week off. no negotiations. see you next week, daddy.” she says simply, and before her father can say anything else, she leaves his office, ignores archie calling out to her and makes her way back up to her car.

there’s only one place she wants to go right now.

she knows there’s a base for the c.i.a here in california, likely located near los angeles to be more discreet, and a quick goddamn google check leads her right to their doorstep.

how could she never put it all together? how could she never realize that she’s never even been to langely, never even seen the inside of an official c.i.a headquarters even though she was supposed to be working for them?

she needs answers.

she walks in, clears all five of the weapons and metal detectors she walks through and heads straight for the front desk, knows she probably looks insane with these marks on her face and a swollen mouth and blonde goddamn hair all askew, but she comes to a stop in front of the receptionist and smiles as best as she can at her.

“my name is cheryl blossom. can you please tell your boss that he has a walk in?” she says hoarsely, blinking back tears. the woman’s face immediately stiffens, and she swallows before she nods and quickly begins talking in a hushed murmurs into the headset attached to her. cheryl begins nervously picking at her fingers, and a couple minutes later, two guards approach her from the left.

her first instinct is to fight, but cheryl forces herself to relax as she sighs, the two guards quickly nodding to her and stopping beside her.

“come with us, ma’am.” one of them says. cheryl nods and follows them towards an elevator, where they go up four floors before the doors open, and they both usher her forward.

cheryl is stared at with every step she takes, and it’s a little unnerving, but she pushes through it and keeps her head bowed, not wanting to attract any attention to herself.

they lead her into what looks like a conference room, and they motion for cheryl to sit in a seat before they wait patiently, cheryl sits there, trying her best not to cry, trying her best to ignore the thoughts running through her head, the panic of what could happen or what’s about to be proven to her.

was jason wrong? if he was, her father could walk in here, give her a lecture about betrayal and not trusting him, could probably aim to kill veronica or god, even betty next as punishment…if jason’s right…

if jason’s right, then everything cheryl has done in the last five years has been for nothing. that all her accomplishments have been for the bad guys, making the world a darker, more horrible place to live in. she’s responsible for putting people’s lives in danger, oh god, she’s gonna throw up-

the door opens once more, and cheryl’s head snaps up to see three men in suits walk in, all of them looking more serious than cheryl’s father has ever even looked in his entire life, and he’s the most serious man cheryl’s ever met.

they close the door behind them, all of them looking down at this woman with blonde hair haphazard and looking definitely worse for wear as she stares back at them blankly.

“you’ve passed the five scans you entered through, scanning for any weapons or wires, but…do we need to place you in cuffs, miss blossom?” one of the older men says gruffly, his short brown hair gelled back as he looks at cheryl apprehensively. she takes a deep breath in before she shakes her head.

“no. i pose no threat, i promise.” she croaks out. the man scoffs, but seems to relax as he pulls a seat out and sits down in it opposite her.

“forgive me for not taking your word for it, but…i’ll do my best to trust you cautiously right now. my name is agent forsythe jones, the man to my left is agent fogarty, and to my right is agent wallis.”

cheryl looks to the two men on either side of agent jones, the one to the left looks slightly nicer, even gives her a small smile with his kind brown eyes shining, but the man to the right stares at her with piercing blue eyes as if he’s trying to kill her, jaw clenched as cheryl swallows the lump in her throat and nods at agent jones.

“my name is cheryl blossom. i work for clifford blossom at _paragon financial corp._ as part of the covert silo four team…a team i have been told by my father is part of the c.i.a.” she says slowly, watching carefully as agent jones winces, and it’s all the confirmation she needs…

jason was right.

“miss blossom…silo four is not part of the c.i.a. it’s a covert operations team for the alliance that we have been trying to take down for decades. your father-.”

“is one of the twelve leaders. he’s been lying to me, to everyone in that building who works for him, who thinks they’re helping save the world when they’re…they’re putting it more in danger.” cheryl tries her best to swallow down the bile rising in the back of her throat, her tears falling before she can stop them as agent jones sighs and nods to the two guards still behind cheryl.

“we’d appreciate it if you’d write down _everything_. absolutely everything relating to your time with silo four. we’ll be back once we determine…where to go from here.” agent jones says with a sigh, standing from his seat before cheryl feels a notepad and a pen drop down in front of her. cheryl swallows thickly and looks up at him.

“i might be here awhile.” she says firmly. he simply smiles wryly.

“everything you can remember, miss blossom. take your time.”

—

seven hours.

it takes seven hours for cheryl to write down absolutely everything from the second she was recruited to silo four to her most recent mission. she goes through four notepads with over one hundred pages, and if agent jones is surprised by how much she’s writing down, he doesn’t show it. after she’s done, she’s lead to another room where she undertakes a psych evaluation and a lie detector to determine that she’s not some triple agent sent by silo four, learning secrets about the real c.i.a to take back to them.

cheryl understands, does every single thing she’s supposed to but is beginning to get a bit annoyed because she’s in a lot of pain and could use some goddamn rest right now before she’s finally lead to a different office and sat down in a chair, this time with no guards by her side. she determines that she must’ve passed all her tests if they’re leaving her on her own in this office, and cheryl finds herself glancing around and taking the place in. it seems like a basic office, and she gets a quick glance of a photo frame before the door behind her opens suddenly-

and to her surprise, a woman steps through. cheryl blinks in surprise, watches as the woman makes her way around the desk with a bunch of papers in her hands.

the second cheryl sees her face, she feels her own flush red shyly. the woman is absolutely gorgeous, brown skin almost glowing, long brown and curly hair that cheryl’s surprised to see has some pink highlights throughout it. her brown eyes observe the papers for a few moments with a frown before she looks up at cheryl, their eyes connecting, and the chill that runs up cheryl’s spine has her inhaling sharply.

“hi, cheryl. my name is agent antoinette topaz, but you can call me ‘toni’ for short. i’m here to debrief you on what happens next. i know it’s been a long day, and i know you probably want nothing more than to go home, but there’s no feasible way i can let you go without informing you. i’ll try to make it quick.” she says, her voice rough and hoarse but somehow soothing as cheryl licks her dry lips and nods once.

toni is…beautiful. and cheryl looks…like a crazy woman right now.

god, her head hurts.

cheryl sighs before she reaches underneath her hair and begins pulling out the pins keeping her wig intact, and toni looks at her with a raised eyebrow as cheryl begins piling the pins onto her desk.

fifty pins and three minutes later, cheryl pulls the blonde wig off and takes her own long red locks out of the hair tie it’s in, letting it flow over her shoulders with a slight groan at the relief from not having so many pins jammed into her scalp. toni’s eyes widen as she looks at her, before cheryl is floored by the wide grin she gives cheryl at the sight of her natural hair.

“you look better as a redhead.” she says softly. cheryl can’t help but smile, the both of them staring at each other for a few moments, and cheryl feels herself relaxing further into her chair. she feels safer than she’s ever felt in her seven hours in this place.

toni suddenly clears her throat and rifles through her papers before she looks up at cheryl with a more serious expression on her face now.

“cheryl, you have two options available to you. i want you to consider them carefully. option one: we place you into witness protection, along with your friends and family, keep you all safe and get you as far away from your father as possible before he discovers what you’ve done.” toni says firmly. cheryl simply stares at her, and toni gives her a half smile before she nods.

“or option two…you continue to work under your father as a double agent for us. you say nothing to him about any of what’s happened today, and you pretend like everything’s the same. except…for each mission he sends you on, we give you a counter mission, and we work from the inside to bring silo four and your father down, which will hopefully lead to us eventually taking down the alliance for good.” toni says matter-of-factly.

cheryl stares at her, and when toni says nothing for a full minute, cheryl finds herself scoffing in disbelief.

“that’s it?” she deadpans. toni inhales sharply.

“cheryl-.”

“how long have you been a c.i.a agent, miss topaz?” cheryl interrupts, watching the girl carefully as she sighs and leans in closer to her over the desk.

“about five years-.”

“the same amount of time that i’ve been lied to by my father into believing i’ve been one, too. if you were in my position…if you found out the last five years of your life was nothing but a lie, what would you do?” cheryl asks her simply. toni swallows thickly, but answers without hesitation.

“i’d take him down. no matter what it takes.” she says with no sarcasm, just genuine emotion. cheryl simply smiles.

“then consider me your double agent.” she says. toni smiles as well, and she nods once before her smile falters slightly.

“we hoped you’d give us that answer. but cheryl, we already have someone on the inside working for us, you don’t have to do this-.”

“yes, i do. he killed my fiancée, the woman i loved…i want him dead. and i want the alliance dead with him.” cheryl says through slightly bared teeth, wincing when her back one that was so unceremoniously ripped out of her throbs angrily at the action.

“okay. we’ll go over some more things with the rest of the team, and then you’ll be free to go. get home, get some rest.” toni tells her softly. cheryl blinks back tears at the idea of going home, seeing her cousin, seeing someone in her life who is genuine…

“thank you.” she croaks out. toni smiles, watches her for a few moments before cheryl notices her eyes trail down to her swollen jaw.

“you know we have someone who can take care of that for you. it must be painful.” she says sympathetically, and cheryl simply shakes her head.

“it’s fine…worth it to get the answers i’ve been looking for.” cheryl says resolutely, and toni seems to agree with her with a nod.

“it’s a lot for you to take in. if you need a few days-.”

“no, i’m fine. thank you for your concern, though.” cheryl smiles. toni returns it with this twinkle in her eyes, and again, that feeling of safety washes over cheryl’s body.

“you’re welcome, cheryl. whenever you’re ready, i’ll take you back to the conference room.” toni tells her, perhaps expecting her to take a few moments, but right now, every second is precious.

so she nods and stands without hesitation despite the pounding headache and the pain all over her body.

“let’s do it.” 

—

cheryl blinks back tears as she removes the dead flowers from heather’s grave and replaces them with fresh ones, running her fingers over the top of her gravestone and trying her best not to break down sobbing as she fiddles with engagement ring still on her left finger.

she misses heather more than anything…misses her so much, it feels like her heart is aching every moment she remembers what happened to her. heather didn’t deserve it, any of it, and…it’s all cheryl’s fault. she shouldn’t have said anything, she shouldn’t have told her…but the idea of keeping it secret from her hurt too much to even fathom.

her father killed her…her own goddamn father, she’ll never understand-

“cheryl?” she spins around in surprise, and sees none other than jason blossom standing behind her, watching her with his hands in the pockets of his coat as he watches her guiltily.

“jay jay? what are you doing here?” cheryl asks in surprise.

“i came to check up on you. and to tell you…i’m proud of you for choosing to work with them.” jason says firmly, smiling at her as cheryl watches in confusion before it quickly dawns on her what he’s trying to say.

“agent topaz mentioned another double agent on the inside…it’s you.” cheryl says simply. jason sighs loudly, doesn’t deny it, and it’s all the confirmation cheryl needs.

he kept this from her for five years…

“cheryl-.”

“why didn’t you ever say anything to me?” cheryl whispers, more tears falling at her brother’s betrayal before she notices him looking somewhat pointedly at the current grave she’s standing in front of.

cheryl feels the guilt rush through her, and she scoffs before she nods once.

“right…course.” she murmurs. jason steps closer to her with another long sigh.

“i wanted to tell you. so many times, cheryl, but i couldn’t put you in danger like that. i’ve done my best to keep you safe while also trying not to raise dad’s suspicions, but now that we’re both working against him…we need to be more careful than we’ve ever been. do you understand what i’m saying, cheryl?” he says in a hushed whisper.

cheryl clenches her fist and it takes everything in her goddamn power not to swing and punch him right in the face.

“you kept this from me for five years, jason. and if you had told me, i wouldn’t have said anything to heather, and she’d still be alive. so i can’t forgive you, because every single one of us played a part in her death and she was innocent.” her tears fall, her heart aching as she stares down at her gravestone once more.

“i know…” jason whispers. cheryl exhales shakily before she begins making her way back to her car.

“don’t follow me again, jason. right now i just…i need time.” cheryl says hoarsely, wiping her tears away, and jason doesn’t stop her, for which she’s thankful.

“okay. take all the time you need, baby sister.” he tells her. cheryl finds herself smiling despite her pain.

“you’re only twelve minutes older than me.” she teases. jason chuckles, and cheryl begins making her way back to her car before-

“by the way, didn’t follow you…” jason calls out. cheryl turns to face him, and jason smiles before he taps two fingers to the middle of his forehead.

“twin telepathy, remember?” he says with a grin. cheryl rolls her eyes, smiling despite herself as she makes her way back to her car.

it hurts…knowing what’s happened to heather is her fault, and her father’s fault, and even partly jason’s fault, but right now, cheryl knows the only way she can avenge her is to to work with the c.i.a, the _real_ c.i.a to bring him down once and for all.

she wants her revenge.

and she’s going to get it.


End file.
